I know I’ve mentioned this, but I love our eggs -I love our chickens too, but not like I love our eggs. Weird, huh? I love being able to go out and collect eggs and then turn it into some delicious meal for my family. I love that we feed our chickens a super, healthy diet and in turn, have super, healthy eggs. I love that when you crack the egg you see that vibrant yellow color, and when you eat our eggs they really taste like eggs.

One thing that we started doing was growing wheat grass for our chickens. We always have tons of weeds around and leftover veggies in the garden, but I read somewhere about how great wheat grass is so we started growing it. I buy wheat berries in bulk from our grocery store and just plant them and water them and that’s it. We walk out to the garden and grab a big handful and yank it up – roots and all and toss it into the chickens. If they are lucky they may end up with a tasty bug or two. They love it and it not only saves money on the cost of feed it makes for healthier eggs.

Cindy

Ok, so our eggs aren’t freezing – but did you know that you can freeze fresh/raw eggs? This comes in very handy when you have an over-abundance of these beauties.

I love our eggs – aren’t they pretty?

I just love the muted colors and all of the spots on each egg. One year as a homeschool project Jordan made a starfish mosaic out of the egg shells. She used white, different shades of brown and different shades of green – so pretty. I have it framed in my office area.

To freeze eggs you want to start out with the freshest eggs. Take 4 eggs and crack and mix gently in a measuring cup. Add 1/2 tsp salt to the eggs and mix well. Pour into a ziplock bag and freeze. Frozen eggs will last for 8 months in the freezer. I clearly mark mine with the date, expiration date, how many eggs and how much salt I used. Then I can use them for quiche, scrambled eggs or really any recipe. We used a couple of bags of the frozen eggs on our camping trip.

It was so convenient to just pull the bags out of the refrigerator when we were ready to make breakfast.  Just be sure to allow enough time for the eggs to defrost.
Cindy

How’s that for random?

New beginnings – well, we took Travis to college two days ago. Waaaah!

While it is a sad and difficult time, it was so awesome to hear the President of the University and several other faculty members say that they have been praying for our students. They actually had a day of prayer where several hundred people walked around the campus: every dorm room, every classroom, every seat in chapel, etc. and prayed specifically for our kids! Wow! Every meeting and event started and ended with prayer. We attended an awesome time of worship Friday night before tearfully driving away. Yesterday we were back to continue with the new student orientation. I don’t think it will really hit me for a few more days that Travis is actually going to stay there. Sleep there, eat there, LIVE THERE!

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It was three years ago this month that we drove out to Arizona to escort Alex to college – man, that was hard. Now we are poised to do it again with Travis, however, he is staying close to home. Only about an hour away, but it’s still going to be tough. I just can’t believe another child is leaving the nest and heading out on his own. I just read a great devotional that said, “teach them God’s truths and then trust.” Sending your kids out on their own definitely takes trust. Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it (Proverbs 22:6 NLT). Here is a cute picture from Travis’ graduation in June.

Another big change is that we recently moved Alex out of the dorm and into his own place. I know, huge! We bought a little condo that Alex will be able to live in while he finishes school and since he was just hired as a flight instructor for his school, he will be there for awhile. Yay for having your child gainfully employed in their desired field, right?

We realized that we needed furniture for the new digs, so I just started mentioning it to friends and we were blessed with some great pieces. An awesome desk, a bed, a trunk and a dining room table with four chairs. We also bought a dresser off Craig’s list and a couple of pieces of furniture from the previous owner. The condo is coming together. Alex is thrilled – his first home, no roommate!

The dining table needed the most work so we set out to refinish it! What a fun project! But much more work than I had expected. The blue paint was almost sticky to the touch, so it made it tough to sand it. Plus the detailing was difficult to sand around too. But sanding we did – lots and lots of it and the set looked so much better. Once sanded, it was time to paint the blue parts black. The new place has black appliances so I thought it would look great. Jordan found several example pictures on Pinterest, so after getting the go ahead from Alex, we had a plan. Once all the blue parts were painted black, I stained all the clear pine a chestnut color. This was quick and easy on the chairs, but tough on the table. After several coats of stain and then many coats of polyurethane, Donald informed me that the tabletop needed to be sanded again. What? Are you kidding me? Luckily he did it, while I went into the house to cry, then pout and then eventually come out to see the progress. Once my hard work had been sanded off, I applied a new coat of stain and guess what? He was right. But don’t tell him that. The new coat of stain went on beautifully. After a couple of coats of satin polyurethane, we were good to go!

Ta da! Here is the finished product in the new place. Maybe I just found a new hobby.

Cindy

I have been a little lazy with my summer reading. I seem to find more pressing things to do and then I realize that I have missed a day or two and then I need to get caught back up. I think what I love about summer is a more relaxed schedule, but what I don’t like so much about summer is a more relaxed schedule.

Today I read Psalm 118 – Give thanks to The Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. What a great reminder! How are you doing on your summer reading?

I decided to set a few goals for summer, just a relaxed list of things that I would like to get done. The summer reading is one of those goals – check, mostly! I also wanted to clean out under my sink and my bathroom drawers – check. Clean out the kids’ school boxes that date back 13 years – ummmm, not check! But I do have a fun project that will be showing up on the blog shortly, we have been refinishing a dining table and chairs for Alex’s new place. It is turning out amazing! So more on that soon.

Have a great day!
Cindy

You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
Psalm 118: 28